Special thanks to Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. Aldo Pucci for the content, teaching, and expertise.
Rational thoughts:
-make us feel good and perform well
whereas irrational thoughts
-make us feel bad and not perform well
Essential Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Thinking/ Feeling/ Acting
Positive thoughts cause positive feelings which cause positive behavior
Neutral thoughts cause Neutral feelings which cause neutral behavior
Negative thoughts cause negative feelings which cause a negative behavior
Review of Emotional ABC’s
A: Aware of/ activating event
-something happens
-see hear smell, feel, taste something, etc.
-notice an event or occurrence
-ie: it’s raining outside, the electricity went out, my boss fired me,
None are good, bad, or indifferent in and off themselves…it’s how we perceive these events
B: Our Belief about the event/ our thinking about the event
Using example of it’s raining outside
-positive thought-“this is good because the lawn/ trees/ plants really need it”
-neutral thought-“this is bad because I’m gonna get soaked leaving work and I’ll be wet all the way home”
-negative thought-“this doesn’t matter to me because I’m home sleeping”
Notice that thoughts could potentially be different with regards to the same occurrence depending upon your environment and situation.
C: Emotional and behavioral Consequence
-feelings and action
Can be Positive, Neutral, or Negative
Using example of it’s raining outside
-positive feeling and action- “this is good because the lawn/ trees/ plants really need it” Feeling-happy, relieved
Action-help or compliment someone
-negative thought-“this is bad because I’m gonna get soaked leaving work and I’ll be wet all the way home”
Feeling-Anger
Action-be rude to someone
-neutral thought-“this doesn’t matter to me because I’m home sleeping”
Feeling-calm
Action-go back to sleep
What to do…
-Identify your thoughts and beliefs about events/ awareness (what are your thoughts and are they positive, neutral, or negative)
Challenge negative thoughts/ beliefs and look for positive alternatives
Stay tuned for how to identify a rational thought vs an irrational thought
Progressive Mind Center, PLLC – assisting you in creating a new mental and emotional blueprint for your life moving forward.
If you would like more information, please call us at (772) 213-8881, or visit our website at promindcenter.com.
